IVF?

Any mothers out there about to go through or going through IVF?
It's looking like it may be our only option to have our 3rd baby.
I have two (5 and 3 years old)...but had a ruptured appendix 2 years ago which has left me with damaged fallopian tubes and a very unlikely chance of falling pregnant naturally.
I am pretty clueless when it comes to the world of IVF, would love to hear any of your stories.

Re: IVF?

I'm not in exactly the same boat, but my son Zachary was conceived through IVF. Our oldest daughter was conceived a more "natural" way lol. Although we received lots of criticism for it (you probably won't, so don't worry) we believed it was a necessary and beneficial process with a wonderful outcome! We had specific parents in mind for Zachary, myself and my partner's sister, but since I'm HIV+ and Anne has had fallopian tube problems as well, we were told it was really our only option. We were extremely lucky in that it only took one cycle of IVF for us to conceive our son. This is relatively uncommon, but since we were under 35 and Anne's uterus was healthy enough, we did have a higher chance of conceiving earlier. The process was expensive, though, even six years ago. If you're in the US, you can expect to pay close to $15,000 for one cycle. We had significant financial help from our parents.

But with the right care and knowledge about the process, it's extremely beneficial and my son's pregnancy went smoothly (and so have his first five years!) Is there anything specific you'd like to know? We did extensive research beforehand, which helped a lot.

Re: IVF?

We have chosen to go the route of IVF after TTC for 2 years. We had done 4 cycles of clomid and concieved but miscarried. I just went through my egg retrieval yesterday and will have the embryos transferred back in sometime early next week. It's our first cycle of IVF, but we have high hopes it will work. We chose to do IVF because I wanted to make sure I had done everything in my power that was available to me to have a child.

So far, I have no regrets about choosing this option. I can tell you it is not what I would call a "fun" process, but I don't think it is anything that is outside of the realms of being handled. It is somewhat time consuming with lots of visits to the doctor, lots of at home shots, and about 2 missed days of work. It is also expensive, which you probably already know. We are very very fortunate to have insurance that pays for 90% of the procedure. Even with that, it is still about $1200 out of pocket for us here in the Midwest (will cost more depending on what part of the U.S. you are in). It can also take an emotional toll, but anyone facing fertility problems is probably already going through their own level of that anyway. Just expect it to add a little bit more to the emotional roller coaster. Your partner will have to be very involved as well, so make sure you are both really on board for this whole thing.

My suggestion is to find a reputable Reproductive Endocrinologist and have them really go over it with you. Our Doctor required us to go through a 3 hour class that fully explained the process for us. It is an amazing science. I sat there for 3 hours in awe of how amazing the whole process really is. I feel so fortunate that this process is even available to me.